JAY LENO AND JIMMY FALLON TOP THE ABC AND CBS TIME-PERIOD COMPETITION FOR THE LATE-NIGHT WEEK OF MARCH 18-22

LENO HITS SEVEN-WEEK HIGH IN TOTAL VIEWERS AND FOUR-WEEK BEST IN 18-49 VIEWERS OVER DAVID LETTERMAN, WHILE FALLON CONTINUES DOMINANCE OVER ‘NIGHTLINE’ AND CRAIG FERGUSON

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. — March 28, 2013 — “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” and “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” were #1 for the week of March 18-22 in 18-49 viewers, total viewers and other key categories versus their ABC and CBS time-period competition.

At 11:35 p.m. ET, “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” hit a seven-week high in total viewers with 3.522 million (best since Jan. 28-Feb. 1) and a four-week high in the 18-49 demo with 982,000 viewers (best since Feb. 18-22). That was better than ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” last week and CBS’s “Late Show with David Letterman” from Monday through Wednesday. CBS aired NCAA basketball tournament coverage on Thursday and Friday, and those numbers are not reflected here.

Leno has now delivered bigger 18-49 audiences than “Late Show” for the last 18 weeks in a row and topped “Jimmy Kimmel Live” for nine of their 11 head-to-head weeks. In total viewers, Leno has out-delivered “Late Show” for 22 weeks in a row and “Jimmy Kimmel Live” for 11 of 11 weeks.

At 12:35 a.m. ET, “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” defeated ABC’s “Nightline” in the head-to-head half-hour in every key ratings category: adults, men and women 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54, plus total viewers.

Fallon has now generated bigger 18-49 audiences than CBS’s “Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” for 23 of the last 24 weeks and prevailed in total viewers for 20 of the last 22 weeks. Versus ABC’s “Nightline” in their head-to-head half-hour, Fallon has out-delivered the newsmagazine for 11 weeks in a row in viewers 18-49 and seven of the last eight weeks in total viewers.

WEEKLY AVERAGES

(According to in-home viewing figures from Nielsen Media Research for the week of March 18-22. Ratings reflect “live plus same day” data from Nielsen Media Research unless otherwise noted. Season-to-date figures are averages of “live plus seven day” data except for the two most recent weeks, which are “live plus same day.”)

ADULTS 18-49

11:35 p.m.-12:35 a.m. ET

NBC “Tonight,” 0.8 rating, 3 share

CBS “Late Show,” 0.7/3*

ABC “Kimmel,” 0.7/3*

12:35-1:05 a.m. ET

ABC “Nightline,” 0.4/2

12:35-1:35 a.m. ET

NBC “Late Night,” 0.5/3

CBS “Late Late Show,” 0.4/2*

1:35-2:05 a.m. ET

NBC “Last Call,” 0.3/2*

TOTAL VIEWERS

11:35 p.m.-12:35 a.m. ET

NBC “Tonight,” 3.5 million viewers

CBS “Late Show,” 3.0 million viewers*

ABC “Kimmel,” 2.6 million viewers*

12:35-1:05 a.m. ET

ABC “Nightline,” 1.4 million viewers

12:35-1:35 a.m. ET

NBC “Late Night,” 1.6 million viewers

CBS “Late Late Show,” 1.4 million viewers *

1:35-2:05 a.m. ET

NBC “Last Call,” 0.8 million viewers*

* Thursday and Friday CBS programming was delayed by basketball and is excluded from these averages. Monday’s “Last Call” and Friday’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” were encores.

And, again, to be sure, I just called Greenwich, Connecticut, and my hero Jack Paar is still dead.

Aaron

Neal is da dumbass, da delusional fanboy.

Douglas in TN

He may be depressed, too, to learn that not only has NBC cancelled Matlock, ABC did too.

Adam

I think Leno will leave early. It’s clear NBC wants him out as soon as possible.

Douglas in TN

When my youngest daughter was about 4, we were leaving a toy store empty handed, and she was angry she wasn’t getting the Barbie doll she wanted.

She screamed, hollered, cried, shrieked, flailed, and held onto the door of the store, refusing to go. She then flopped on the outside sidewalk.

Such will be with Jay Leno. He will scorch the NBC lands before he is escorted out.

Part of it will be pathetic, part of it will make for some of the little interesting television he’s made.

Gary Middleton

“He will scorch the NBC lands before he is escorted out.”

Very silly. Jay will do the rest of the shows in his contract and then leave.

This idea that Jay throws any more of a fit than the other hosts when things don’t go their way is tired fiction.

Douglas in TN

Oh…a man who cowardly hides in closets to overhear his bosses is rational…sure…

Gary Middleton

Yes, wanting maximum information is rational.

Ann

I’ve always thought that Jay eavesdropping on the maneuvering NBC execs was pretty funny. He also let them know he knew what they had said.

Douglas in TN

Of course, the more I thought about it, the jokes Leno made at his expense were every bit as flat as his other jokes, and you could see the punchlines coming down the street, so perhaps it’s not accurate to say he would scorch earth.

He’s a Machiavellian for sure, but a weaker Machiavellian.

Nick

I actually miss The Jay Leno Show. Not only was it nice to turn to when nothing else was on, but it was a fairly enjoyable way to end the day.

I think NBC panicked after their affiliates were complaining and Conan was drowning and they acted without thinking really. They couldn’t have just let things play out and they really could’ve had some success. Revolution pulled a 2.6 after The Voice on Monday – chances are Leno could have pulled at least a 2.0 and made a lot more money.

Now, 3 years later, their 10pm lineup (along with the rest of their lineup) is at an all-time low and they once again have a potential latenight fiasco on the horizon. Are people actually running this network with serious intentions? A baboon could run NBC better than these morons at the helm now.

Douglas in TN

Affiliates weren’t complaining about Conan…he aired after their local news.

They complained a storm about Leno. Many local stations saw their local news drop from 1st place dramatically, some still not recovered. In this market, the longtime NBC affiliate went from 1st to 3rd during Leno’s time at 10PM, and still often struggle to get second place.

Affiliates threatened to pull Leno and run their own material, which would have been a fascinating battle to watch.

Don’t know if a fiasco is in the winds. Frankly, with the numbers these shows are getting (the “king” is getting under a million viewers in the demo) it’s a wash.

Douglas in TN

I hadn’t read this before…like many, I thought Conan O’Brien was doomed by some sloppy lawyering with his contract. Turns out there may have been some valid points concerning the start time of “Tonight.” From The Hollywood Reporter:

_________________

Not that it makes any difference now, but it turns out Conan’s contract with NBC did kind of contain language specifying that the Tonight Show was to begin every night at 11:35 p.m., contrary to what was previously reported (and what Jeff Zucker said in interviews). The Hollywood Reporter’s Matthew Belloni has seen it and says the agreement between O’Brien and the network contained a 2002 amendment making clear the Tonight Show’s time slot and a line referring to his old show, Late Night, as the “second network series after the end of primetime.”
NBC were apparently arguing, though, that a 2004 amendment to the deal, which officially promised Tonight to Conan, said nothing about a time slot (to which Conan’s lawyers likely countered that, despite amendments to other things, the original contract’s language on the time-slot point was still valid, plus Tonight had aired at the same time for 60 years, establishing precedent).

Gary Middleton

Nick, the network didn’t have the option of letting it play out. The affiliates made the decision for them.

Those affiliates could not have envisioned new dramas routinely doing less than 1.0 in the demo. Perhaps now if they could go back in time, they would have kept Leno’s 1.4s, but not necessarily! Reason being that when people get invested in a drama, they generally stay to see how it ends, which makes it a good lead-in for the news. Talk shows tend to start big and then the audience shrinks through the hour. So Leno’s 1.4 might have only been a .8 at 10:59 pm, while Smash’s 1.0 might be 1.0 at 10:59 pm.

Aaron

Will we see anything about the Tonight Show in the May upfronts?

Adam

I really don’t get the hate for Leno that the Conan camp has. They don’t know how showbiz works. If you don’t resonate with an audience, you’re kicked out and the next guy gets his chance. If he doesn’t do well, he’s kicked out. Conan didn’t do well with the Tonight Show, so he was kicked out in favor of the guy who did do well with the Tonight Show.

Douglas in TN

Aaron, I think, as the “leaks” have said, they will make it official at the May upfront presentations. It will be interesting to see if Jay plays nice or even participates.

On another note, I just called NBC again, and Concentration has indeed been cancelled.

Douglas in TN

Adam…in essence they both got cancelled, although I still believe that if Leno didn’t have that remarkable clause in his contract he would have been benched after they cancelled his 10PM show.

He might, today, be talking with Kathie Lee and Hoda on a 5th hour of Today.

This Guy

Those NBC affiliates may have hated “The Jay Leno Show”, but they also did indeed hate Conan on TTS.

When asked, in an industry-wide meeting with NBC officials, who they wanted at 11:30pm, if given the chance, not a single affiliate voted for Conan. Not one. Zero.

So, for all the “It’s Jay’s fault that Conan blah blah blah”, those affiliates didn’t help Conan at 11:30pm any more than they helped Leno keep his 10pm slot.

As for the silly Leno insults, they come off as that: Silly. They get so personal and mean. Why? You don’t even know the guy. Why such vitriol lobbed at someone who obviously makes so many people (more than any other late-night host, I might add) happy? Why do you care? And what do you think you know about him that you so obviously do not?

I don’t one bit like the comedy of Larry the Cable Guy. But I’m not hurling anger and bitterness at him, insulting him for his very existence and wishing ill will upon his career. There are numerous hosts to enjoy. Why do you care that there’s one on TV that you don’t watch?

This Guy

And, not for nothing, but it’s called “The Tonight Show”. It’s not called “The Host Show”. So what if Carson wanted Letterman to replace him? It wasn’t his choice to make. The show belonged to the network. Still does.

I’m all for this falling on our knees and worshipping at the altar of Carson and whatnot, but I don’t know why people seem to think his completely personal and subjective opinion on humour should have any bearing on who took over this show. Leno was the permanent host, beloved by the audience and getting great numbers. It was (and apparently still has been) a wise decision to give him that job. What Carson wanted was irrelevant.

Did Dick Wolf ask Chris Meloni who should replace him on “Law and Order: SVU”?! Would any of us have expected him to? Did William Peterson pick his replacement on “CSI”?